Renegade
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Prequel to "Time of Dying"; set 200 years after Markus and William take control of the covens. Selene is having a hard time fighting against the Renegades and keeping Michael under control. Selene/Erika; mentions of Selene/Michael and Erika/Kraven.
1. Tension

_**LbN: The first of the "5 or less" challenges. The challenge was an E/S fic with the same characters as Time of Dying. Happy reading!  
**_

Selene jerked away as the sound of wheels on gravel came closer. She'd been sitting up in her office for hours, wishing she'd let Erika stay. The younger vampire had offered to keep her company while she waited for Michael to return, but Selene had sent her to bed. She looked out of the window as the truck pulled into the carport and groaned when Michael stepped out. He was bloody. She left the office in a hurry and headed him off before he got to his room. "Tell me there are going to be some angry farmers without cows in the morning," she said.

"Move."

"No. Not until you tell me you didn't kill anyone this time."

"Just a bum. And I dumped the body so no one'll know."

"Michael, you've got to stop!"

"You're not my girlfriend anymore, Selene. You can't tell me what to do."

"You're killing people!"

"Yeah, people no one cares about anyway."

"You have got to control your cravings better."

"Maybe I can't. You're not like me; you don't know what it feels like when—"

"You are not playing you nature against mine. We're Immortals, both of us are Hybrids now, thanks to Corvinus. You can stay away from humans just like I can, so don't start."

"Go to bed, Selene." Michael shoved her aside and went into his room, locking the door behind him.

*

"How far do you think they went?" Selene whispered to Clayton. For a young Immortal, he was terribly good his job. Since he was the newest Death Dealer, he had to stay with Selene at all times. The fact was, though, she liked having him on her team.

"I can smell them," Clayton told her. "They can't be that far ah—ahh!" he yelled as he was tackled from the side.

The group began morphing and firing bullets. Selene noted, with some satisfaction, that the Renegades only had one Lycan on their side, and he seemed to be the leader. "Bring him in!" she called.

The team regrouped, focusing their fighting on isolating the Lycan. Selene shot at him as she moved closer. She tried to sidestep the paw he swung, but she wasn't fast enough. She fell to the ground, but stood again, holding her side. Something moved beside her. "Michael! No!"

The hybrid decapitated the Lycan quickly, and morphed back to human form. The rest of the Renegades scattered when their leader fell.

"God DAMN IT MICHAEL!" Selene yelled. "What the hell?"

"Fuck you! I just saved your ass!"

"We would've been fine," she growled. "But thanks to you, the group of Renegades we've been tracking for two years, the largest group we would've ever taken down, has disappeared again. And, also thanks to you, we have no way of finding them, or any of the others, since you killed their leader."

"You needed me."

"The hell we did!" Clayton snapped. "If we had, we would've told you to come on the mission."

"Shut your mouth, new kid. I'm the best fighter you've got."

"You may be the strongest, but you only think about yourself," Selene hissed, holding her side. It was a deeper wound than she had thought. "You don't know how to be part of a team, Michael. Come on, we've got to get back to the mansion."

*

Selene grimaced as Markus tossed a globe at the wall in frustration. "I'm sorry, my lord."

"Yes, yes I know. Can't you control him?" Markus growled.

"I've tried, but he doesn't listen to me!"

"I suggest you find someone who can, and quickly. We're at war, Selene, and as my best Death Dealer, I can't afford to have you losing missions like this."

"Yes, my lord."

"What are your plans now?"

"Khan, Raize and I are going to reorganize the teams and go back to recon. It's all we can do really."

Markus nodded. "Appraise me of your plans when you have the details worked out."

"Yes, my lord." Selene stood to go, still holding her side.

"And Selene?"

"Yes?"

"Get Erika to look at that cut, and try to get some rest tonight."

"Of course, lord." Selene left the office smiling. Her master's gentleness always caught her off guard. Ignoring the stares of the rest of the coven, she motioned for Erika to follow her and made her way to her room.


	2. Trouble

**Renegade**

"Ah!"

"Be still," Erika said, taping Selene's bandage to her. "There, all done."

"Thanks," Selene said.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I'm fine."

Erika took her hand. "You'll find them again. Don't worry."

Selene chuckled. "Who knew you'd turn into my favorite cheerleader…You used to hate me."

"Oh, I never hated you," Erika said, grinning. "You were just too busy killing things to be an option. Plus, Kraven was a really good lay…"

"My ears are bleeding!" Selene groaned. "Not better than me though, right?" she asked a second later.

"Not a chance. I'm going to bed, if you don't need anything else."

"Stay with me tonight." Selene caught her by the hand and pulled her close.

"You know I can't," Erika whined.

"We don't have to—"

"You and I both know that we'll end up fucking if I stay here. If you're serious about this," Erika held up her hand, showing off the engagement ring Selene had given her, "then I have to stay in my room for the next two months."

"You know, of all the rules of the coven, I think I hate the "pre-marriage abstinence period" the most."

Erika laughed and hugged her. "Good night, Selene." She pulled the door closed behind her and walked down to Clayton's room. "Hey," she said. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah. Feels weird to be leaving, but someone's got to do it, I guess."

"Selene trusts you. That's why she picked you for part of the team."

"I know. And I'm glad to help. I'll only be gone for a month or so."

"Does Mum know you're going?"

"Er…"

"Clayton!"

"I'm going to tell her! I've still got a few days."

"You're going to put of telling our mother about your super dangerous recon mission until two days before you go?" Erika asked, incredulous.

"Bad plan you think?"

"Go tell her now!" Erika scolded her young half brother. As he sheepishly left the room, she kept telling herself, _Young equals immature, he's only 100 years old…_ Looking at her watch, she decided to help Tanis in the library until she got tired enough for bed. When she found him, he was surrounded by about fifty thick, dusty tomes.

"Ah! There's my favorite nurse/scribe!" he said as she approached.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"I've started documenting the years since Markus and William's ascension to power," Tanis said. "I'm trying to fill these books. Would you like to help?"

"Of course," Erika nodded, taking a seat.

"Now, I've made it as far as the Schism. Right now I'm going over the leaders of the rebellion and what happened during the battle. How about….hmmm…I'll work on the years following, I think. You take it from the year Clayton was born. That's about 50 years later. Here are some general history books of the area," he stacked them in front of her. "And your lovely fiancé's input will probably be most illuminating."

Erika smiled and got to work researching.

*

"What are you doing?" Erika asked.

"I'm leaving, what's it look like?" Michael said. "Get out of the way."

"Aren't you supposed to have someone with you?"

"I don't need a babysitter," he sneered.

"Yeah, that's what most children say. But whether or not you think you need one, I'm pretty sure you were ordered to stay with someone."

"You can't tell me what to do. And Selene's too chicken shit to do anything herself, so piss off."

Erika took a breath before continuing. "Did you at least eat? If you're going to break the rules, at least be smart about it. We don't want any more corpses."

Michael reached out to push her out of the way, but a hand caught his from behind.

"Don't even think about it," Selene said. "Raize!"

"Wha's up, Selene?"

"Michael's going somewhere. Go with him."

"Sure thing."

Michael snarled at all three of them before going outside.

Erika shot a sympathetic look at Raize, who followed him. "Kid's more trouble than he's worth."

"I hear you," Selene agreed.

_**LbN: Send reviews please!**_


	3. Treachery

**Renegade**

A month had passed. Erika waited anxiously by the door, looking for cars on the road.

"I talked to him yesterday," Selene said, hugging her. "He's fine. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"I know, I'm being overprotective. It's just that Clayton's so young…I worry."

"He's fine," Selene smiled. "I'm sure of it."

"Selene!" Khan called. "Michael's left again."

"Not again," both ladies said.

"Slipped away while Raize was in the loo," Khan said, smirking. "It's worse than having teenagers, I swear it."

"I'll find him," she said, grabbing her cloak. "Tell Clayton I'll talk to him when I get back. Did he go on foot or take the car, Khan?"

"He's footing it today. Headed east."

Selene nodded and took off out of the front door. She ran at speeds too fast for any mortal to see, following her ex-lover's scent. She ran him down after about thirty minutes, cannoning into him and pinning him to a tree. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Get off me!"

"Are you doing this just to piss me off? Because it's working."

"Why else would I be doing it? Get off!"

Selene let go, forgetting that she had been hovering when she caught him. She watched him fall a few feet. "Come on, we're going home. The recon team's back and I have work to do."

Michael stared at her for a second, before following silently.

*

"It's ridiculous William!" Selene raged. "I can't control him. No one can. I've started tailing him myself, because I feel horrible asking my team to be babysitters."

"You're doing all you can," William said. "I know. But you have to remember, his Immortality is new. He's impulsive. I daresay all new Immortals are. You killed every Lycan in sight when you were turned. Erika was…er…a very amorous addition to the coven. We all were a bit reckless."

"But most of us didn't start killing people to satisfy our blood lust."

"True. Very true. But I think—"

A knock at the door interrupted them. Khan stuck his head into the office. "Sorry, my lord, but we need you. It's urgent." He waited for them to follow him and led them upstairs. "Michael's been feeding again," he said, opening the door to one of the rooms.

A woman lay on the bed, bloody and obviously struggling for life. Erika sat by her side, trying to bandage her up. "Turn her," she said when she spotted Selene.

Selene looked at the woman, and flinched. "I've kind of lost my appetite. Not gentle, was he?"

"She's suffering," Erika said. "But it doesn't look like she's going to die. So unless you feel like killing her, I suggest you get to it."

Selene nodded and knelt next to the bed and bit the woman. It didn't take long for her breathing to ease. Sitting back, Selene wiped her mouth and asked, "Where is he?"

"Don't know," Khan said. "In his room, I suppose."

Selene stormed out, with William at her heels. She pounded on Michael's door a minute later.

"MICHAEL!" William roared.

Not dumb enough to ignore an elder, Michael opened the door.

"Enough is enough," William growled. "You are on house arrest until further notice. If I so much as hear that you've opened a window, you will feel my ire. If you step outside, you will be banished from the coven." With that, he pulled the door closed and called for guards.

Selene walked back to the new Vampire's room. "Has she spoken yet?" she asked Erika.

"No. She's asleep."

Selene pulled Erika into a hug. "He's under house arrest now. William's deciding what to do."

"Let's hope it's something drastic. Michael's out of control."

*

Days passed, and Selene heard nothing from or about the Hybrid. She was walking down to the library to find Erika when she passed one of the servants going up. Selene recognized her as Tonya, one of Erika's friends. She bowed and smiled at her. "Taking dinner to Markus?"

"To Michael, actually."

"I see. Carry on, I didn't mean to keep you." She continued down the stairs and into the library. It took her a few minutes to find her fiancé, as she was hidden in a back corner surrounded by books. "There you are. What are you doing?"

"Researching how many people were killed during the City Battle," Erika said. "It's quiet horrible, actually."

"It was. Still working on Tanis's project then?"

"Yeah. Will you help me? I've still got three books and a database to go through," she said, nodding at the computer screen.

They worked in silence for about fifteen minutes. Selene was taking some notes when she heard a scream, then a growl, and then a crash. Rushing to the stairs, she heard a commotion on the third landing. "Michael." She made it to his room at a sprint. "What was that scream."

"Keep Erika out," Khan said.

"Why? What's…" Selene trailed off as she saw the scene in the bedroom. Tonya was lying on the floor, clothes ripped off of her. She was bloody, and looked to be expiring rapidly. There were gashes on her neck and stomach that weren't regenerating fast enough, despite the attention of the coven's doctors. Selene turned and caught Erika around the waist, pulling her away before the blonde could see.

"Selene what's wrong?" she asked. "What's he done now?" She looked into Selene's stricken face. "Where's Clay—"

"It's not Clayton. Michael's…he's killed Tonya."

"What?"

William appeared then, looking into the room and grimacing. "He's no longer a part of this coven. Do all of you hear me? Consider him a Renegade. Tell your Death Dealers, Selene. If he appears anywhere near this house, you're to shoot him on sight."

"Yes, William."

_**Fin**_

_**LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews!  
**_


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